1 ARST Yahweh gave to Jeremiah the prophet a message about Babylon and the country of Babylonia. BSB BSB: This is the word that the LORD spoke through Jeremiah the prophet concerning Babylon and the land of the Chaldeans:
2 ARST This is what Yahweh says:“Proclaim a message among the nations; do not withhold any of it; raise up a signal flag to announce that Babylon will be captured. Its chief god Marduk, whose other name is Bel, will be completely disgraced, and all the other statues and idols will be shattered. BSB BSB: “Announce and declare to the nations; lift up a banner and proclaim it; hold nothing back when you say, ‘Babylon is captured; Bel is put to shame; Marduk is shattered, her images are disgraced, her idols are broken in pieces.’
3 ARST The army of a nation will come from the north to attack Babylon and destroy the city very thoroughly, with the result that no one will live there again. Both people and animals will run away.” BSB BSB: For a nation from the north will come against her; it will make her land a desolation. No one will live in it; both man and beast will flee.”
4 ARST “But I, Yahweh, say that in the future, when that is about to happen, the people of Israel and the people of Judah will join together. They will be weeping and wanting to worship me, their God. BSB BSB: “In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, the children of Israel and the children of Judah will come together, weeping as they come, and will seek the LORD their God.
5 ARST They will inquire about the road to Jerusalem, and then they will start traveling toward it. They will say to each other,‘We must return to Yahweh again!’ They will make an everlasting agreement with me that they will never forget. BSB BSB: They will ask the way to Zion and turn their faces toward it. They will come and join themselves to the LORD in an everlasting covenant that will never be forgotten.
6 ARST My people have been like lost sheep. Their leaders have caused them to abandon me like shepherds who have allowed their sheep to wander in the hills and mountains. My people are like sheep that do not know the path to return to the sheepfold. BSB BSB: My people are lost sheep; their shepherds have led them astray, causing them to roam the mountains. They have wandered from mountain to hill; they have forgotten their resting place.
7 ARST All their enemies who found them attacked them. They said,‘We did not sin by attacking them, because they sinned against Yahweh; he is the one who provides what they need; he is the one to whom they should have remained faithful; he is the one whom their ancestors confidently expected to help them.’ BSB BSB: All who found them devoured them, and their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they have sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their fathers.’
8 ARST But now, I say to the leaders of my people,‘Depart from Babylon! Leave the land of Babylonia! Act like male goats that go in front of the rest of the flock; lead my people back to their own land. BSB BSB: Flee from the midst of Babylon; depart from the land of the Chaldeans; be like the he-goats that lead the flock.
9 ARST Do that because I am going to gather an army of great nations to the north of Babylon. They will join together to attack Babylon and will capture it. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors that always hit what they are aiming at. BSB BSB: For behold, I stir up and bring against Babylon an assembly of great nations from the land of the north. They will line up against her; from the north she will be captured. Their arrows will be like skilled warriors who do not return empty-handed.
10 ARST Babylonia will be conquered, and those who conquer it will take away everything they want. That will surely happen because I, Yahweh, have said it.’” BSB BSB: Chaldea will be plundered; all who plunder her will have their fill,” declares the LORD.
11 ARST “You people of Babylon who plundered my chosen people, now you are very happy. You run around joyfully like a calf in a meadow, and are happy like stallions are happy when they are neighing. BSB BSB: “Because you rejoice, because you sing in triumph—you who plunder My inheritance—because you frolic like a heifer treading grain and neigh like stallions,
12 ARST But soon your people will be very disgraced as a result of being conquered. Your country will be the most insignificant nation; it will be a wilderness, a dry land and a desert plain. BSB BSB: your mother will be greatly ashamed; she who bore you will be disgraced. Behold, she will be the least of the nations, a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert.
13 ARST Because I, Yahweh, am angry with you people of Babylon, I will cause your city to become completely deserted. All who pass by will be horrified and will gasp because of the destruction there. BSB BSB: Because of the wrath of the LORD, she will not be inhabited; she will become completely desolate. All who pass through Babylon will be horrified and will hiss at all her wounds.
14 ARST All you nations that surround Babylon, prepare to attack it! Tell your archers to shoot at their enemies; shoot all of your arrows at them and do not hold back, because the people of Babylon have sinned against me, Yahweh. BSB BSB: Line up in formation around Babylon, all you who draw the bow! Shoot at her! Spare no arrows! For she has sinned against the LORD.
15 ARST Shout victorious war cries against Babylon from all sides of the city. The soldiers of Babylon will surrender; the towers and walls will be torn down. It is I, Yahweh, who will be getting revenge on the people of Babylon, and I will use you to get revenge. Do to the people of Babylon what they have done to others! BSB BSB: Raise a war cry against her on every side! She has thrown up her hands in surrender; her towers have fallen; her walls are torn down. Since this is the vengeance of the LORD, take out your vengeance upon her; as she has done, do the same to her.
16 ARST Take away from Babylon those who plant crops and those who reap the harvests! Because of the swords carried by those who will attack Babylon, the people in Babylon who have come from other countries should all run away; they should go back to their own countries.” BSB BSB: Cut off the sower from Babylon, and the one who wields the sickle at harvest time. In the face of the oppressor’s sword, each will turn to his own people, each will flee to his own land.
17 ARST “The Israelite people are like sheep that have been scattered by lions. First the army of the king of Assyria defeated them. Then the army of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon smashed them. BSB BSB: Israel is a scattered flock, chased away by lions. The first to devour him was the king of Assyria; the last to crush his bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.”
18 ARST So this is what I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, the God whom Israel worships, say:‘Now I will punish the king of Babylon and the people of his land, like I punished the king of Assyria. BSB BSB: Therefore this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.
19 ARST And I will bring the people of Israel back to their own land where they will eat the food that grows in the fields of the regions of Carmel and Bashan, and the people in the hill areas of Ephraim and Gilead will have all they want to eat. BSB BSB: I will return Israel to his pasture, and he will graze on Carmel and Bashan; his soul will be satisfied on the hills of Ephraim and Gilead.
20 ARST At that time, there will not be people in Israel and in Judah who are still guilty for having sinned, because I will forgive the small group of people whom I enable to still be alive.’” BSB BSB: In those days and at that time, declares the LORD, a search will be made for Israel’s guilt, but there will be none, and for Judah’s sins, but they will not be found; for I will forgive the remnant I preserve.
21 ARST “So, I, Yahweh, say to the enemies of Babylonia,‘Attack the people who live in the region of Merathaim and the people in the region of Pekod of Babylonia. Pursue them to kill them, and completely get rid of every single one of them, as I have commanded you to do. BSB BSB: Go up against the land of Merathaim, and against the residents of Pekod. Kill them and devote them to destruction. Do all that I have commanded you,” declares the LORD.
22 ARST Shout your battle cries throughout the land; shout when you are causing great destruction. BSB BSB: “The noise of battle is in the land—the noise of great destruction.
23 ARST The army of Babylon is like the most powerful hammer on the earth, but it will be completely shattered. Babylon, one of the nations, will be a complete ruin.’ BSB BSB: How the hammer of the whole earth lies broken and shattered! What a horror Babylon has become among the nations!
24 ARST You people of Babylon, listen, because I have set a trap for you without your awareness; you will be caught in that trap, because you fought against me. BSB BSB: I laid a snare for you, O Babylon, and you were caught before you knew it. You were found and captured because you challenged the LORD.
25 ARST It is as though I have opened the place where I store my weapons, and I have brought out all the weapons to use against the people with whom I am angry. I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, have a lot of work to do to punish the people of Babylonia. BSB BSB: The LORD has opened His armory and brought out His weapons of wrath, for this is the work of the Lord GOD of Hosts in the land of the Chaldeans.
26 ARST So, you enemies of Babylonia, come from distant lands and attack it. Break open the places where they store the grain, and pile up the rubble like heaps of grain. Destroy everything completely; do not leave anything that is not destroyed. BSB BSB: Come against her from the farthest border. Break open her granaries; pile her up like mounds of grain. Devote her to destruction; leave her no survivors.
27 ARST Destroy all the young warriors who are as strong as bulls; take them to where you will slaughter them. It will be terrible for them, because it will be time for them to be punished. BSB BSB: Kill all her young bulls; let them go down to the slaughter. Woe to them, for their day has come—the time of their punishment.
28 ARST Listen to the people who have fled and escaped from Babylon while they tell in Jerusalem how I, Yahweh, have gotten revenge against those who destroyed my temple in Jerusalem. BSB BSB: Listen to the fugitives and refugees from the land of Babylon, declaring in Zion the vengeance of the LORD our God, the vengeance for His temple.
29 ARST Summon archers to come to attack Babylon; surround the city in order that no one will escape. Do to the people of Babylon what they have done to others, because they have defied me, the Holy One of the Israelite people. BSB BSB: Summon the archers against Babylon, all who string the bow. Encamp all around her; let no one escape. Repay her according to her deeds; do to her as she has done. For she has defied the LORD, the Holy One of Israel.
30 ARST The young men of Babylon will fall in the streets; all their soldiers will be killed in one day. This will happen because I, Yahweh, have declared it! BSB BSB: Therefore, her young men will fall in the streets, and all her warriors will be silenced in that day,” declares the LORD.
31 ARST I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, say this:‘You arrogant people, it is now the time; it is the day when I will punish you. BSB BSB: “Behold, I am against you, O arrogant one,” declares the Lord GOD of Hosts, “for your day has come, the time when I will punish you.
32 ARST Your land is full of proud people, but you will stumble and fall, and no one will lift you up again. I will light a fire in the cities of Babylonia that will burn up everything that is nearby.’ BSB BSB: The arrogant one will stumble and fall with no one to pick him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities to consume all those around him.”
33 ARST I, Yahweh, commander of the angel armies, also say this:‘The people of Israel and Judah were oppressed; those who captured them guarded them carefully and would not allow them to leave Babylon. BSB BSB: This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “The sons of Israel are oppressed, and the sons of Judah as well. All their captors hold them fast, refusing to release them.
34 ARST But Yahweh is strong, and he will free them. Yahweh is the Commander of the angel armies; He will defend his people and enable them to return to their land where they will have peace, but the people of Babylonia will not have peace. BSB BSB: Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He may bring rest to the earth, but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.
35 ARST He will send enemy soldiers carrying swords to strike the people of Babylonia; they will strike the officials and wise men and all the other people who live in Babylon. BSB BSB: A sword is against the Chaldeans, declares the LORD, against those who live in Babylon, and against her officials and wise men.
36 ARST They will strike their false prophets with swords and they will become foolish. They will strike the strongest warriors of Babylonia, and they will all be terrified. BSB BSB: A sword is against her false prophets, and they will become fools. A sword is against her warriors, and they will be filled with terror.
37 ARST They will strike their horses and chariots and the foreign mercenaries who are in the army of Babylonia, and they will all become as weak as women. They will seize all the valuable things there in Babylon and take them away. BSB BSB: A sword is against her horses and chariots and against all the foreigners in her midst, and they will become like women. A sword is against her treasuries, and they will be plundered.
38 ARST Yahweh will cause the streams to become dry. He will do all those things because the entire land of Babylonia is filled with idols, and those horrible idols have caused the people who worship them to become crazy. BSB BSB: A drought is upon her waters, and they will be dried up. For it is a land of graven images, and the people go mad over idols.
39 ARST Soon only jackals and other wild creatures will live there; and it will be a place where ostriches live. People will never live there again; it will be uninhabited forever. BSB BSB: So the desert creatures and hyenas will live there and ostriches will dwell there. It will never again be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation.
40 ARST Yahweh God will destroy Babylon like he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby towns; no one will ever live there again. BSB BSB: As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah along with their neighbors,” declares the LORD, “no one will dwell there; no man will abide there.
41 ARST Look! A great army will come from the north. A great nation far away with many kings is preparing to attack you people of Babylon. BSB BSB: Behold, an army is coming from the north; a great nation and many kings are stirred up from the ends of the earth.
42 ARST Their army has bows and arrows and spears; they are very cruel, and do not act mercifully to anyone. As they ride along on their horses, the sound of the horses’ hooves is like the roaring of the ocean waves; they are riding in battle formation to attack you, you people of Babylon. BSB BSB: They grasp the bow and spear; they are cruel and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride upon horses, lined up like men in formation against you, O Daughter of Babylon.
43 ARST The king of Babylon heard their report,“The enemy is approaching.” So he was frightened and became weak. Fear and anguish gripped him, like a woman who is about to give birth to a baby.” BSB BSB: The king of Babylon has heard the report, and his hands hang limp. Anguish has gripped him, pain like that of a woman in labor.
44 ARST I, Yahweh, will come to Babylon suddenly like a lion comes out of the jungle and leaps on the sheep that are eating the good pastureland. I will quickly chase the people of Babylonia from their land. And then I will appoint for them a leader whom I will choose; I will do that because there is no one like me who can say that what I have done is not right. No ruler can oppose me. BSB BSB: Behold, one will come up like a lion from the thickets of the Jordan to the watered pasture. For in an instant I will chase Babylon from her land. Who is the chosen one I will appoint for this? For who is like Me, and who can challenge Me? What shepherd can stand against Me?”
45 ARST Listen to what I have planned to do to the people of Babylon city and the rest of Babylonia: even the little children will be dragged away, and I will completely destroy the people who live there. BSB BSB: Therefore hear the plans that the LORD has drawn up against Babylon and the strategies He has devised against the land of the Chaldeans: Surely the little ones of the flock will be dragged away; certainly their pasture will be made desolate because of them.
46 ARST When Babylon is destroyed, the noise will be extremely loud, with the result that the earth will shake, and the wailing of the people will be heard by the people of other nations.’” BSB BSB: At the sound of Babylon’s capture the earth will quake; a cry will be heard among the nations.
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